Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Sutera cordata cultivar Gicomwhi-14.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Sutera plant, botanically known as Sutera cordata, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name xe2x80x98Gicomwhi-14xe2x80x99.
The new Sutera is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Hikone, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. The objective of the breeding program is to create new vigorous Suteras with large and numerous flowers.
The new Sutera originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in April, 1999, of the Sutera cordata cultivar Blizzard, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,966, as the female, or seed parent, with the Sutera cordata cultivar Pink Domino, not patented, as the male, or pollen parent. The new Sutera was chosen as a single plant from the resulting progeny of the cross-pollination by the Inventor in July, 2000, in a controlled environment in Gensingen, Germany.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken in Gensingen, Germany since August, 2000, has shown that the unique features of this new Sutera are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the cultivar Gicomwhi-14 have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature and light intensity without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Gicomwhi-14xe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Gicomwhi-14xe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Sutera cultivar:
1. Low mounding and trailing plant habit.
2. Vigorous growth habit.
3. Freely and continuous branching habit.
4. Numerous large salverform flowers that are white in color.
5. Good garden performance.
Compared to plants of the female parent, the cultivar Blizzard, plants of the new Sutera are more compact and have much larger flowers. Compared to plants of the male parent, the cultivar Pink Domino, plants of the new Sutera have much larger flowers.
Plants of the new Sutera are most similar to plants of the cultivar Giwhisto-12, disclosed in U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 10/228,454. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Gensingen, Germany, plants of the new Sutera were more compact, had lighter green-colored foliage, and had larger flowers.
Plants of the new Sutera can be compared to plants of the Sutera cultivar Cabana, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Gensingen, Germany, plants of the new Sutera differed from plants of the cultivar Cabana in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Sutera had a more uniform plant habit than plants of the cultivar Cabana.
2. Plants of the new Sutera had smaller and darker green-colored foliage than plants of the cultivar Cabana.
3. Plants of the new Sutera were more freely flowering than plants of the cultivar Cabana.